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When an individual stops serving as a representative payee, what should be done with a beneficiary's conserved funds?

Excerpted from "Social Security Handbook". See the up-to-date, official Social Security Handbook at ssa.gov.

1622. When an individual stops serving as a representative payee, what should be done with a beneficiary's conserved funds?

A representative payee who is no longer serving as a payee must return savings or other investments and any interest earned on the funds to us. SSA will reissue the returned funds to either a new representative payee or to a beneficiary currently receiving direct payment.

In the event of the beneficiary's death, conserved funds become the property of the beneficiary's estate. Rather than returning them to SSA, conserved funds must be given to the legal representative of the deceased beneficiary's estate for disposition under State law. If no legal representative exists, the payee must contact the State probate court (or the State agency handling estate matters) for instructions on what to do with the remaining conserved funds.

Last Revised: Aug. 2, 2007


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There are 10 Comments

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on Wed, 08/17/2011 - 04:14

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A PAYEE? OR WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME FOR THE CHANGES TO TAKE EFFECT? I JUST CHANGED MY PAYEE ON THE 15TH OF THE MONTH. WILL MY OLD PAYEE RECEIVE MY BENEFITS OR NEW ONE?

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on Sun, 08/28/2011 - 22:59

My 17 yr. old son's mother died earlier this year. He's been receiving social security death benefits which his maternal aunt is handling. My son now lives with me in Ga. What should I do as his aunt has said she would give me only a portion of whatever he is receiving as opposed to turning the check over to me and/or making me his payee.

Submitted by Site Admin on Sun, 08/28/2011 - 23:37

It's not clear who's has custody of the boy, but I assume you do.

When Social Security appoints a representative payee, they look at the facts and circumstances to determine the best payee. However, the person who has custody of the child is very likely to be chosen as the most appropriate representative payee.

I am not sure why the maternal aunt was selected as the representative payee. If you have custody, you may want to consider filing form SSA-11 "Request to be Selected as Payee".

http://socialsecurityhop.com/en/handbook/16/1600-appointment-of-a-repres...

http://www.ssa.gov/payee/faqrep.htm

http://www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-11.pdf

https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200502107!opendocument

Submitted by Site Admin on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 22:11

I'm not sure I understand the question. I think you're saying, "Can a representative payee who is receiving survivor benefits on behalf of a child deny (not pay) those benefits to the child?"

In this case, the short answer is NO.

Per the SSA, the representative payee must use the benefit proceeds for the benefit of the recipient (child) :

Your representative payee must first use your SSI benefits for your current basic needs for food, clothing, housing, medical care and personal comfort items. After paying for your needs your representative payee must save for you any money left, preferably in an interest-bearing bank account.

http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-repayee-ussi.htm

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on Mon, 07/23/2012 - 18:06

I'm 17 and live in a different state than my mother and my father passed away in 08. Iv lived out of the house for almost a half of year. I live in a house and work full time and finish high school through american schools which I mail back and forth the work which is nice besides the bills. I have a lot more on my plate and need my benefits to help pay for my bills so im trying to finally change my payee tomorrow and forgot to ask the ss lady I spoke with if my mother would have to do anything or could I just change it myself to another adult? I have all of my original aplication letters and stuff, but my mom is irresponsible and I haven't seen money and years. I need help quickly. .

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on Wed, 08/29/2012 - 21:13

I've gone to social services and told the lady i no longer wanted to be payee. she told me i didnt have to if i didnt want to and said i came in early enough to stop the next ssi check from being deposited into my bank acount. an this is all she said. but here it is 1 month later and i just got the ssi check Y IS THAT ??!!

Submitted by Site Admin on Wed, 08/29/2012 - 23:40

In general, you should be able to stop being a representative payee when you want. When you ended being the representative payee, I imagine you would have received paperwork indicating you were no longer the representative payee. I recommend keeping that paperwork.

I would contact the SSA immediately regarding this. It's possible the SSA will come to you looking for repayment of the benefit.

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1663


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